“Design on the stone wing concept is being revived after a brief hiatus. My underground home project is growing to include a sunroom / atrium entryway that will give more exposure for PAHS efficiency, and the overall layout has changed drastically to accommodate a larger common area. Check out the attached rough sketch – more to come!”
superinsulated
Best Cold Climate Building System?
Question: I dream of building a small eco friendly country ‘cabin’. My location will be in Alberta or BC, Canada. Do you prefer earthbag technique now over straw bale? Site will be a cold climate compared to many of your examples. I do have concerns on moisture and rot for essentially an organic material. — Scott
Brian Waite’s Straw Bale Vault
“I love your fascinating website so I thought you might find my efforts, to get a more sustainable [insulated home] into mainstream acceptance here in the UK, of interest.
Modular Solar Domes
There’s lots of demand for solar homes, earth sheltered homes, super energy efficient, low cost/ do-it-yourself designs and domes. This design combines all these features. The main living dome in this stellar design is flooded with light and ventilation through a 12’ south facing arched window wall. Plexiglass skylight and ferrocement eyebrow windows (optional) provide additional daylighting and solar gain in lofts. Alcoves provide space for baths, walk-in closets, pantry, etc. Wood pole reciprocal roofs reduce heavy work high on the domes. Buttresses contain earth berms covered with grass, zeriscaping or edible plants. Additional domes can be joined with earthbag vaults to create larger homes in modular fashion. For instance, two domes could be joined side-by-side with south facing arches.
Insulated Earthbag/Geotextile Basement Walls
This article describes a low cost method of building insulated basement walls without concrete, using geotextiles. Typical basement walls are expensive and use large amounts of concrete, a major contributor to global climate change. Concrete basement walls are typically built by contractors, because they require expensive forms and specialized knowledge. Plus, in cold climates they … Read more
Cold Climate Earthbag Yurts
There’s great, untapped potential for superinsulated earthbag buildings in cold climates. Here’s a way to combine the best features of earthbags and yurts. The basic idea is to combine earthbag walls filled with lightweight insulation such as scoria (lava rock), with a traditional yurt roof frame that’s insulated with perlite or vermiculite. Yurts (ghers) have … Read more